“She could be another Fae goddess, Zoey.” He obviously wasn’t going to admit he would kill us both, and likely very soon. “I could be persuaded to wait until she’s born. I could give her to her Fae relatives. All you have to do is come out.”
At least I could shake him up a bit. Any Fae healer would be able to tell I was carrying a human child. “You think she’s Devinshea’s? One of the gifts we received from you sending us across the planes was Daniel turning human for a few days. Just long enough for me to carry his child.”
And she would die with me.
The witch standing in for Myrddin went silent and then her eyes grew wide. “Tell me you are joking, Zoey.”
“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. It doesn’t matter, does it?”
“If you are telling me the truth then you carry a child who is the product of a latent vampire king and companion queen. The first in thousands and thousands of years.”
“You going to try to sell her off to someone?”
The witch had paled considerably. “No. I will kill her the first chance I get. She is an abomination and cannot be allowed breath. She will be able to destroy worlds. Close the door, companion. Lock yourself away with your son and let him save the planes from that thing in your belly.”
A chill went through me. He seemed to want to kill all of my children. Or he was testing me. “You’ll have neither the sword nor me. The plane will be safe.”
The witch’s hands curled over the book I couldn’t see. She’d stepped back as though Myrddin wanted more space between us. “I have the book. I’ll get the sword. And you have another daughter. Evangeline should work. Good-bye, Queen Zoey. I think it is a good thing you came. Your death and that of the thing you carry inside you will save the planes so much pain.”
The witch turned and walked away, toward the elevator that I assumed would take her to wherever Myrddin wanted to store the book.
The others remained, their blank stares telling me they still had a job to do—to ensure we never left this apartment.
I closed the door, a heavy feeling in my heart as I turned back to my son. I sank to my knees and stroked his hair like I had when he’d been a child.
“Mom, please,” he whispered, all strength gone now. He was left with only the will to plead with me not to do this to him.
But there wasn’t anything else I could do. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t call up Danny and ask him for a save. I was trapped, and all I could do was give this son I loved a fighting chance. “You need to get out of this building as soon as you can. Your dad will feel your turn once you’re out of here and he’ll come for you.”
“Not before I kill you.”
“I love you. It’s okay, baby. I need you to remember that.” I would shove those words into his soul. “It’s okay. Whatever happens, I still love you. I love you so much. I’ve loved this soul of yours from the moment I met you.”
Maybe the very first moment, because there had always been something about Lee, some easy camaraderie between us. We’d fit in that odd way people sometimes do, as though a piece that had been missing had somehow slipped into place.
“It doesn’t hurt now. I think I’m dying.”
I knew he was. Tears slipped from my eyes and I felt my heart breaking because these would be our last moments together, and I wished so very much that I hadn’t wasted the days we’d had on looking for a way back. We only had the now, and I should have spent it with all of them. I should have sat them all down and learned every little detail I could.
“It’s going to be all right. I’m going to be here for you.”
“I’m afraid,” he whispered. “I didn’t think I would be afraid.”
“Don’t be. I’ll be here, and then your dads will take care of you. All you have to do is get out of the building.”
“Don’t…don’t want to hurt…please, Momma.” He begged me.
I simply took his hand in mine and told him I loved him over and over so his last human moments would be surround with love.
I saw him as he’d been, a grumpy wolf who secretly wanted a family. He’d been my protector and one of my truest friends.
Then he’d been my son, a light in my life. Always curious. A force of nature.
I prayed our souls would meet again because I felt the moment he died.
It was time for me to save him. No matter what it cost.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I sat there as the light outside turned to late afternoon and wondered how long it would take. I didn’t move. There wasn’t a reason. I simply sat on the floor and held his hand, my mind going over our lives together.